How do you deal with a husband that harasses you about what you eat while breastfeeding?

Every time my baby is fussy my husband blames what I eat. I follow all the guidelines and get lots of whole grains, fruit, etc. I take in the occasional cup of coffee or piece of chocolate all within what is recommended. I really don't know if I can continue breastfeeding if he doesn't back off. I even challenged him to try my diet for a week and he didn't even make it 2 days and said it was lame for him to have to do it. Please help me get through to him! I feel really down about the situation.

It is hard because it's within a mans nature to &quot;fix&quot; things. Even if that is is people! But, a fussy baby can't be fixed. There isnt a magic recipe of correct food, this number of hours of sleep, being held this much etc. Try helping your husband understand that your baby is a person. From day one i purposed to look at my baby as a person. People have bad days, people get grumpy, people get upset, people have emotions and sometimes, especially little people, can't control them. Every time my daughter did something frustrating and i wanted a quick fix i remembered, she's a person, she is relational. This behavior takes time to train and mold until it is gone or corrected. Hope that helps!

I told my husband if he thinks he knows better, he can do the breastfeeding himself.
;-)

a BabyCenter member

Answered 12/6/12

2 found this helpful

My husband does this too. And now that she is eating solids and not breast feeding very much anymore, he harasses me about giving her the wrong kind of solids or too much or too little when she gets fussy. But I have found that a lot of it comes from him just not understanding how babies are. Some babies are fussy just because, there doesn't need to be anything 'wrong' for a baby to be fussy. Tell him how he makes you feel. Breast milk is the very best for a baby, and explain to him why it is so important for you to nurse and that you need his support in this. Ask him why he harasses you so much, does he not believe in the importance of nursing? Communication is always the best way to solve problems :)
At the same time I never followed a strict diet. I laid off the caffeine, and discovered that my baby didn't like onions and garlic, but I could eat everything else. For some reason she spit up a lot after I ate pizza, but didn't get fussy.

I'm so sorry mama. Can you get him some information on normal baby fussiness? www.kellymom.com is a good place to start, or see if you can get the pediatrician to give him some info as some men (mine included) seem to take things better coming from a &quot;professional&quot; instead of from us. As if we're not professionals on our own babies. Babies are fussy. It's almost never what you eat.

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